Taiwan Today

One day in 1502, on Christopher Columbus' fourth and last voyage to the New' World, his ships anchored off the glistening white beach of Cariari Island, close to present-day Port Limon on the Costa Rican Caribbean coast. Fascinated by its beauty and its exuberant, exotic wildlife, the world's best-known explorer christened the new land "Costa Rica" (Rich Coast) and claimed it for the Span­ish Crown. (Another version attributes the auspicious name to fascination with plentiful rumors of vast gold treasures, which were never found.)

On the afternoon of September 6, 1985, four centuries later, Lacsa, the Costa Rican national airline, brought a more formal visitor to the fabled land. ROC Vice President Lee Teng-hui and his party were beginning an official six-day visit to the quietly beautiful Latin American country.

Since the signing of a formal treaty of friendship between Costa Rica and the Republic of China in 1944, Vice Pres­ident Lee has been the highest ranking ROC government official to visit Costa Rica; back in 1980, then Premier Sun Yun-suan made such a trip. Lee's visit was in response to Costa Rican President Monge's 1985 visit to the Republic of China.

Before Lee's arrival in San Jose, the major Costa Rican newspapers—La Nacion, La Republica, La Prensa Libre, and others- presented features about Lee himself, his family, and various as­pects of the Republic of China.

An independent nation since 1821, this small, West Virgina-sized Central American republic has drawn interna­tional attention for its special achievements. Especially in the 20th Century, the establishment of new schools, hospitals, and roads have paced its development.

Costa Rica takes special pride in its system of free and compulsory public education and its fame as a nation where "teachers far outnumber the police." There has been no national army since 1949.

On a land area of 50,900 sq. km., its population of 2.4 million boasts the highest standard of living, the largest per capita income, and the highest literacy rate in Central America.

A country dedicated to freedom, Costa Rica has long-merited its reputa­tion as one of the world's model democracies.

In recent years, the country has met with growing financial difficulties as a result of lagging coffee prices and the multiplied costs of petroleum imports. President Luis Alberto Monge Alvarez, who won the presidency in 1982 with a whopping 57 percent of the popular vote, defeating five other candidates, has launched unprecedented austerity measures to restore economic equilibrium. Monge immediately ordered a freeze in hiring, cut off unessen­tial purchases, and restricted public sector salary increases. These and a series of other renovation measures resulted in curbed inflation rates.

New Costa Rican presidential elec­tions will be held in February 1986 and, while Vice President Lee's visit was taking place, campaign activities could be witnessed everywhere, in both major cities and in rural areas.

In front of almost every house, there is a flag representing the supported candidate's party. The Costa Rican peo­ple's enthusiasm for their presidential elections is on a par with the Brazilians' love of carnival.

President Monge's term will end in February 1986, and the nation's constitution stipulates that a president may not be re-elected. In the resulting wide-open elections, more than ten candidates from various parties are vying for the presidency. Among them, Oscar Arias Sanchez of the Partido Liberación Nacional, and Rafael Angel Calderon of the Unidad Social Cristiana are consid­ered the frontrunners.

In his welcoming speech at a dinner party in honor of Vice President Lee at the National Palace, Costa Rican Vice President Armando Arauz Aguilar declared that he and President Luis Alberto Monge, during two trips to the Republic of China, had discerned a special simi­larity in the peoples of the two countries: "We firmly believe in democracy and are convinced that the government can satisfy the people's needs without giving up personal freedom and humanitarian principles. "

The Costa Rican Vice President spe­cifically praised ROC President Chiang Ching-kuo: "(He) has dedicated himself to the promotion of the people's welfare both physically and mentally, and to defending the world's civilization."

On Vice President Lee's second day, President Monge, driving his white sedan himself, took Lee on a motorcade trip for a weekend at Ocotal, a Pacific coast resort 200 kilometers northeast of San Jose.

En route to Ocotal, the party toured Port Caldera in Puntarenas Province, northeastern Costa Rica. Visiting the port, they boarded a cargo ship from Spain and were entertained by the ship's officers with champagne. Burgeoning Port Caldera began operations just three years ago, and has since become the development center of northwestern Costa Rica.

Ocotal, also called "Little Switzerland," is famous for its picturesque scenery. The party enjoyed lively tunes played by a small band, while tour­ists in the area, learning that the Vice President of the Republic of China was also visiting, came up to Lee and asked to take pictures with him.

Costa Rican observers noted that it is rare indeed for President Monge to chauffer around a foreign guest himself.

In the succeeding days, Vice Presi­dent Lee visited Costa Rica's National Theater and several museums. The Na­tional Museum in San Jose hosts representative exhibits of the country's flora and fauna, and of its history and archaeology. The building that houses the museum once served as a fort and offers a panoramic view of San José.

The National Theater, completed in 1897, is considered the country's most beautiful building. Paintings and sculp­tures by European and Costa Rican artists elaborately decorate the theater.

The Jade Museum exhibits contemporary art, jade, gold miniatures and objects made of clay and stone. The Gold and Currency Museum houses more than 1,600 gold items, ranking among the top, in terms of gold value, of the museums of the world.

One of the priorities for Lee during his Costa Rican visit was to greet the country's ethnic Chinese residents who number approximately seven thousand. The first Chinese to reach Costa Rica came mostly from Kuangtung Province about a hundred years ago, to build a railroad. Many stayed on in the San Jose urban area; others scattered to Limon and Cartago. They now play important roles especially in the retail trades and in service businesses.

On September 9, San José's Chinese community hosted a grand banquet in downtown San Jose in honor of Vice President Lee. Youths performed traditional Chinese dances and songs for the more than one thousand participants. Chinese gourmet dishes were ushered one by one to red-decked tables. The ex­uberant banquet did not end until early morning the next day.

On his last day in Costa Rica, Vice President Lee visited the University of Costa Rica (UCR), founded in 1940 on a campus in San Pedro, a suburb of San Jose. Twenty years ago, UCR counted some 6,000 students; by the late 1970s and early 1980s, the number had reached 30,000. The faculty of medicine at UCR is said to be the best in Central America, and its microbiology depart­ment is the choice of all Central Americans who wish to specialize in that field. Currently, an exchange professor from Taipei's Tamkang University is teaching at UCR.

Perhaps breakfast time in San José is the most enjoyable of routine meals in the city. In the soft early sunshine and soothing morning breeze, handsome Costa Rican youths display hand-made hammocks for sale to foreign tourists. At the small Culture Plaza, a fair was held one day, and some thirty souvenir stands attracted numerous tourists as a small band in front of the National Theater played enchanting Spanish music ....

At a press conference before his departure for Panama, Vice President Lee noted that the visit to Costa Rica had concretely promoted understanding between high ranking officials of the two countries. He said the existing agricultural, fishery, and bamboo-handicraft ROC technical cooperation missions would be expanded, and that the ROC had agreed to map concrete measures to help Costa Rica export agricultural products with heightened economic value. And he pledged that the Republic of China would also send experts to help in Costa Rica's industrial and trade development.

Just an hour's flight from Costa Rica, Lacsa flight 651 began its landing at General Omar Torrijos H. Internation­al Airport, 25 minutes from the center of Panama City.

Welcoming the ROC official party for the Republic of Panama were Vice President Eric Arturo Delvalle (who was sworn in not long after, On September 28, as the nation's new president), For­eign Minister Jose M. Cabrera Jované, and other high ranking officials.

Lee's first official activity was a courtesy call on then President Nicolás Ardito Barletta, a former World Bank vice president.

Located in downtown Panama City, the official residence and office of the President of the Republic is popularly known as the "Palace of the Herons," in deference to the long necked birds hovering around the fountain at the main entrance to the Moorish patio. Erected in 1673, the magnificent white building was completely renovated in 1921. The beautiful murals inside are works of the famous Panamanian artist Roberto Lewis.

Receiving Lee at the Presidential Palace, Barletta noted that Panama would revise its labor laws within three months to help attract foreign investment, and expressed the hope that ROC corporations might invest in Panama's light industries.

Prior to the arrival of Spanish explor­ers and settlers, Panama was inhabited by tropical forest and savanna-dwelling Indians. In 1502, Columbus landed on the north coast, excited by prospects of gold in the Veragua area. However, his attempts to establish a colony at Belén the next year were unsuccessful.

In 1513, the famed Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean. Over the following three hundred years, the area served as an entrepôt.

Panama, an Indian word meaning "an abundance of fish," declared its independence from Spain in 1821, and the present Republic of Panama declared its independence from Colombia in 1903.

Lee made a special point of laying wreaths before three of the city's heroic bronze statues: of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founding father of the Republic of China, on Republic of China Road; of Panama's first president, Manuel Amador Guerrero, at Independence Plaza; and of the late General Omar Torrijos Herrera, at Fuerte Amador.

In an evening ceremony at the spa­cious hall of El Club Uniôn de Panamá, before almost all of Panama's high ranking officials and other celebrities, Vice President Delvalle presented Lee with a medal (La Orden Nacional de Manuel Amador Guerrero en el Grado de Gran Cruz) for Lee's contributions to the promotion of friendship between the two countries. Delvalle characterized Lee as both outstanding agricultural expert and statesman and declared that the ties between the two countries would be strengthened as a result of Lee's visit.

For every visitor to Panama, a visit to the Canal is a must. Designed at the turn of the century and in operation since 1914, the Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Isthmus. It took ten years to complete at a cost of US$387 million.

With more than 13,000 ships passing through annually, the Panama Canal is one of the two most strategic artificial waterways in the world, the other being the Suez Canal.

At a formal Canal briefing, Lee was told that the Evergreen and Yangming shipping firms of the ROC are dynamic and important users of the Panama Canal. He later observed the massive Miraflores Locks in operation.

In 1524, Charles I of Spain ordered the very first survey of proposed canal routes through the Isthmus of Panama. But construction did not begin until three centuries later, and then under a different flag. In 1880, the French, under Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, began a canal, but after 20 years of struggle with the jungle, epidemic disease, and financial problems were forced to give up.

In 1903, Panama and the United States signed a treaty by which the latter undertook to construct the interoceanic canal across the Isthmus. The next year, the United States purchased from the French canal company all its rights and properties in Panama, for US$40 million, and began the great construction.

Following his return to the capital, at an evening press conference, Lee discussed his talks with President Barletta, Vice President Delvalle, and other Panamanian high ranking officials. He noted general satisfaction with the current status of bi-lateral cooperation and with agreements to further enhance such efforts.

The ROC government has pledged to provide increased assistance to Panamanian orchard projects, toward mechanization of rice production, and for the production and export of high­-value agricultural product; the ROC is also to send experts to Panama to help establish fishery cooperatives. Additionally, the ROC agreed to actively encourage its businessmen to invest in Panama, and urged that the Panamanian government consider special investment-encouragement measures.

Lee toured Panama City, a com­munity of modern skyscrapers situated on the Pacific coast, overlooking beauti­ful Panama Bay. It is the center of the nation's industrial, commercial, political, and cultural activities. With a population of just 660,000, the Latin city manages to generate a uniquely international ambience as a result of the numerous visitors from other nations.

A banquet hosted by Chinese com­munities from all over Panama in honor of Vice President Lee was staged at Atlapa, an 18-acre convention center. Here, traditional Panamanian dances were performed by both cute Chinese children and Panamanian Indians before some 1,500 participants, including Vice President Delvalle and other dignitaries.

Chen Feng-tien, chairman of the Association of Chinese Communities of Panama, noted that the banquet was to show the Chinese Community's respect for Vice President Lee and its support for the ROC government.

The first Chinese came to Panama during the 19th Century along with North Americans, French, and others to construct the Panamá-Colón railroad. Ever since, the Chinese have played an important role in Panamanian commerce and industry and participated actively in the country's political and professional life.

During a routine inspection tour to David, capital of Chiriqui Province, President Ardito Barletta told ROC reporters that the 33,300 Chinese in Panama have been expanding their influence both politically and economically.

Among notable examples is 32­-year-old Minister of Labor and Welfare Lee Chih-ming (Jorge Federico Lee), the sixth Panamanian minister of Chi­nese ancestry. An expert on international and commercial law, Lee is considered to have boundless prospects for his political career, having demonstrated balanced consideration for both labor and capital.

Nine years ago, when Lee graduated from the public University of Panama with the highest grades attained since the founding of the school, the authorita­tive newspaper La Estrella de Panamá carried a lengthy article about him and praised him for "creating a model in Panama's history of legal education."

A 19-gun salute and a grand military airport ritual at Guatemala City were the preludes for Vice President Lee's five-day visit to the Republic of Guatemala, Central America's most populous country. Deputy Chief of State General Rodolfo Lobos Zamora received Lee at the airport.

Lee called on Chief of State General Oscar Humberto Mejia and Deputy Chief of State General Rodolfo Lobos Zamora. When Lee presented a letter from President Chiang Ching-kuo to Mejia, the Guatamalan chief of state praised Chiang as a great statesman and asked Lee to convey his cordial greetings to President Chiang. In the evening, at a grand reception at the National Palace, General Mejia awarded Lee the country's Order of the Quetzal.

For Vice President Lee and his entourage, the vista of ancient Tikal, with the ruined roof combs of its huge white temples rising above the undulating greens of the rain forest, was an un­ forgettable experience-a first encounter with the mysterious Mayan civilization.

The trip began with a 90-minute flight over rolling high mountains. The Vice President's party sighted the great lake of Petén-Itzá, and the plane quickly set down.

Half an hour later, the group board­ed several buses for a journey down a narrow jungle road into the distant past....

Twenty-five hundred years ago, the settlement was begun that gradually became Tikal, a prime urban center of Mayan civilization. Temples, palaces, shrines, ceremonial platforms, resi­dences, ball courts, and plazas were built. However, this magnificent city was sud­denly abandoned by the ruling caste and by a large portion of the population in the century after Christ. The same sequence occurred at Copán, Quiriguá, Piedras Negras, and other Mayan cities. To the present, no one knows the exact reason for the strange exodus.

Located in the center of the vast low­land jungles of the Department of El Peten, northern Guatemala, Tikal is be­lieved by the Guatemalan people to have first been visited by a Spanish missionary, Father Andres de Even­dano. In 1696, he reportedly came upon it accidentally as he was returning to the town of Merida after having baptized three hundred children in the Tayasal area. However, the official discoverer of Tikal is listed as Coronel Modesto Mendez; his discovery, in 1848, awakened international interest.

Vice President Lee toured the Great Plaza, and the temples designated I and II, as a Guatemalan guide explained the Inscriptions on each giant stone altar and stele. Then the party enjoyed a typical Central American lunch near the Tikal airfield before returning to the capital.

General Mejia had earlier told Lee that all Guatemala was actively preparing for November 3 national elections, since, beginning January 1986, the Gua­temalan army would return power to an elected civilian government. Vice Presi­dent Lee now arranged to receive four of the eight presidential candidates, Vinicio CeFezo Arévalo of the Partido Democra­cia Cristiana, Jorge Serrano Elias of the PDCN, Jorge Carpio Nicolle of the Union del Centro Nacional, and Mario Sandoval Alarcón of the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional.

Since his assumption of the role of chief of state of Guatemala on August 8, 1983, ending the I7-month regime of Rios Montt, General Mejia has often stressed that the army would finally return power to the hands of the people. Setting a timetable and carrying out the goal step by step, the Guatemalan chief of state has contributed to an improved image of Guatemalan government in the international community.

Of the eight presidential candidates, none has ever held an official post in the army-unprecedented in recent Gua­temalan history. In 1984, an 88-member National Constitutional Assembly was elected to draw up a new constitution for the nation.

The new 1985 constitution provides that the tenure of presidency will be five years, instead of the four years stipulated in the 1965 constitution. One area in common is that renewed tenure is not permitted. The elected president will be sworn-in January 14, 1986.

Soon after he gained power, General Mejia acted quickly and decisively on several major issues. He immediately lifted a state of emergency. His devout Catholicism and fervent anti-Communism became constant public topics.

Mejia's government was able to es­tablish and develop 28 recovered territories for the nation's Indian citizens. Vice President Lee visited one of them by helicopter-at Chacaj, in northern Gua­temala near the Mexican border-to call on a ROC agricultural cooperation team stationed there.

Chacaj was once devastated by guerrilla forces, its people fleeing to Mexico. Since its recovery, the Guatemalan government has been devoting major efforts to provide housing and public facili­ties for the returning Indians. In line with the reconstruction plan, the Gua­temalan government asked the ROC to send an agricultural cooperation mission to open a demonstration farm in Chacaj.

In less than half a year, a 3.5-acre farm was created and planted with corn, beans, and various other vegetables. Hogs and fish are also raised.

On his last day in Guatemala, Vice President Lee laid a wreath before the Guatemalan Monument of Independence, then headed for the city of Antigua. Founded by the Spaniards in 1543, the city endured many disasters, and survived a near-fatal quake in 1773; for more than two hundred years before, it had nourished as a center of culture and art. Today, Antigua is a beautiful blend of ruins, restored colonial buildings, and new buildings in the colonial style.

During his visit to the old city, Lee received a city key from Antigua Mayor Armando Coloma Azurdia. Later, he en­joyed a traditional costume show, by Indian tribesmen, arranged by the Tour­ism Bureau.

At a grand reception that evening, Lee, representing President Chiang Ching-kuo, decorated General Mejia with the ROC Order of Brilliant Jade.

In his speech to the more than one thousand participants, General Mejia thanked the Republic of China for its assistance and cooperation with Guatemala. He also asked Lee to convey his sincerest gratitude to President Chiang Ching-kuo.

Lee's 15-day official visit to Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala ended on September 20. Before boarding a flight for the long journey home, he told reporters that in his talks with the presidents and other high ranking officials of the three Central American countries, all had indicated that they are impressed by the economic development of the Republic of China, and they have pledged actions to improve their coun­try's investment environments to attract the businessmen of the Republic of China.